Today, 25 faith leaders sent a thank-you letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for their recently released Methane Waste Standard, officially called the “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule.” The Methane Waste Standard will require oil and gas operations on BLM and tribal lands to detect and plug methane leaks, as well as cut the practice of venting and flaring excess methane.

Signers included national religious leaders as well as leaders of the West and Southwest, including the Directors of the Wyoming Association of Churches, Colorado Council of Churches, and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light – all organizations that have been extremely active on the issue.

The letter lifts up faith communities’ shared faith principle of stewardship: “As people of faith, we believe in good stewardship of all the gifts of God’s creation. We consider it part of practicing our faith to counteract wasteful attitudes and behaviors, which Pope Francis call ‘throwaway culture’.”

Since the Bureau of Land Management first announced their effort to cut methane waste, religious communities have championed the cause. Religious leaders highlighted in their letter their collective reaction to learning about the issue: “As our communities learned of the methane waste problem, we found it shocking how much leaked, vented, and flared natural gas is lost from oil and gas operations.” Annually, oil and gas operations in the United States waste enough methane to power the entire state of Wyoming for a year.

When methane leaks from oil and gas operations on public land, a useful gift of God’s creation instead becomes a burden to communities. The religious leaders spoke of this burden in their letter: “Many states count on revenue from these operations to fund projects that care for the common good, including schools and roads. Yet, oil and gas companies allow methane, a finite gift of God’s creation, to waft into the air. This not only pollutes our air, but it also endangers our health and harms our climate. It also sends millions of dollars in potential earnings for the companies and tax revenue for our communities up in smoke.”

As the Methane Waste Rule proceeds from finalization to implementation, religious leaders will continue to monitor its effectiveness, and continue to advocate for cutting methane waste.###Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptists, mainline Protestants, Historically Black Churches, Peace Churches, and Orthodox communions. Learn more at www.creationjustice.org

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Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso said, “This is a common sense move that will benefit everyone’s bottom line. We are grateful the Administration followed through and got it done. We call on oil and gas companies to embrace the Methane Waste Standard as an opportunity for better stewardship of methane, which is a finite gift of God’s creation.”

Wyoming Association of Churches Executive Director ChesieLee said, "We thank the BLM for this rule to discourage waste of a precious resource of God's creation while potentially bringing us more revenue for our schools. At a time when we are facing severe cuts due to a decline of existing revenues available for the State of Wyoming, children can benefit from this improvement in resource stewardship.”

Colorado Council of Churches Executive Director Adrian Miller commented, “As people of faith concerned about being good stewards of the earth, we thank President Obama and his administration for their leadership on improving regulations that will help reduce methane waste.”

Sister Joan Brown, osf, the Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, commented, "People of faith in New Mexico are grateful for the new BLM methane rules addressing pollution and waste. This is an important step in reducing the large methane cloud in our Four Corners region that will protect the health of those who are most vulnerable. Our schools and the children will benefit from more funds into our state budget from royalties. New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light is grateful for the leadership of this rule that cares for God's creation and our communities."

Advent is the Christian season of anticipation – watching and waiting. Advent is a season of hope. Yet this year, for many of us, it might be more difficult to fully claim hope as we wonder what future political realities might mean for God’s creation.

The Creation Justice community pays close attention to the state of the natural world and those who most depend on its well-being. Profound and urgent needs surround us. While the world’s leaders gathered in Paris in 2015 to declare a goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, we have already exceeded 1 degree Celsius of warming. Persistent climate change-related drought has displaced thousands of Syrian farmers, fueling the conflict in Aleppo. Meanwhile, low-lying communities worldwide are suffering floods from extreme weather and rising sea levels. This year, government leaders allowed communities to become sickened by poisoned water in Michigan and West Virginia, while also holding back resources for community healing and remediation. One in five species are threatened or endangered, and this year, scientists demonstrated that the world is on track to lose two thirds of all its wild animals by 2020.

We are attentive to how public policy makers respond to these needs. As a whole, responses have been too little, too late, or downright harmful. Some of us to feel our hope faltering.

Yet even if it is difficult, now is a time for hope. Christian hope is not a feeling. It is a gift from God. Accepting this gift requires us to release clenched anxious fists into open hands. It requires a willingness to listen -- to surrender our thoughts, words, and deeds to the only One who can create, redeem, and sustain all of creation.

In times like this, I hold close these words of Salvadoran Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero: “We are workers, not master-builders. Ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.” And, all around me, I am heartened by the workers and ministers of the Creation Justice community. I am grateful for the witness of all who are active in disaster response ministries, who quickly came to the aid of communities in Michigan, West Virginia and South Carolina this year. I am lifted up by the children who have filed a lawsuit holding adults responsible for climate change. I find incredible hope in Christian communities’ commitment to stand with the water protectors of Standing Rock to defend their sacred land, as well as support the proactive conservation leadership of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. I also draw strength from knowing of the thousands of daily acts of care for God's creation and neighbors that happen through congregations, camps and retreat centers, and schools.

It is Christian hope that will give the Creation Justice community the moral courage required of us for such a time as this. Next year, our Earth Day Sunday curriculum and programming will focus on environmental justice from indigenous peoples' perspectives. We will also improve our action center and increase opportunities for the Creation Justice community to develop relationships with decision-makers.

We will stand up to environmental racism in our communities and in the halls of power. We will raise a collective witness in the public arena echoing Christ's call for just relationships among all of Creation, with a particular concern for the vulnerable and marginalized.

But, we cannot do it without your help. Creation Justice Ministries' efforts to educate, equip, and mobilize Christian communities to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation has never been more important. Please invest in our mission with a tax-deductible financial contribution: www.creationjustice.org/donate

The letter highlights their “grief, lamentation, and alarm over the rapid devastation of Arctic ecology and Native Alaskan subsistence lifestyles.” It also expresses appreciation for President Obama’s intentional effort to experience and listen to the pain of Arctic communities: “The Arctic is experiencing global warming at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the world. We are grateful you came to understand our reality first hand when you visited Alaska.”

Aware of their own faith communities’ economic struggles and fears, the letter’s authors declared: “Now is the time to make difficult decisions about fossil fuels. Our communities feel pressure to provide for their families, and some see fossil fuels as the only choice for economic opportunity. We reject the premise that families must choose between eating today, and providing for all of creation tomorrow.”

The leaders also pledged to be problem-solvers: “We need new economic opportunities for Alaska that will bring blessings not only today, but to future generations. We pledge to work with our faith communities toward such solutions.”

Creation Justice Ministries executive director Shantha Ready Alonso said of the letter, “Faith communities in Alaska are on the front lines of coping with ecological damage. This letter is a sign of relief that at least one existential threat to communities’ spiritualities, livelihoods, and safety has been put to rest.”

Following our trip to Standing Rock, we're working to share the following six thoughts for people contemplating camping out there. If you know anyone who's heading out there or thinking about it, feel free to pass them on.

1) I've never felt more safe than within Oceti Sakowin. Prayerful singing largely drowns out the ever present drone of the police airplane circling the camp at all hours. The front line is another story.

2) Allow at least two nights and a day to appreciate the camp. We were somewhat crunched for time, and it was really hard to leave after only dropping our supplies, eating dinner, camping and then attending the morning prayer ceremony.

3) Be self sufficient, humble, and eager to help. This is a community which functions on the principle of being a blessing and not a burden.

This is REALLY IMPORTANT, and prompted a lot of discussion among the three members of our mission with extensive outdoor education backgrounds. Our consensus, when looking at numerous poorly prepared out-of-towners bundled ineffectively against what was a very mild night for November on the high plains, is that people planning on staying really, REALLY need to come properly equipped. Outward Bound offers an excellent primer on cold-weather camping here, as does REI. This needs to be required reading for anyone heading to the camps for even one night.

4) It's extremely difficult to reliably find anyone you're looking for. Cell coverage is nearly non-existent, and the camp is vast. That said, it doesn't really matter who you find, because most people are on the same page. If you need something, going to the MC tent and asking the elder officiating for help will likely quickly solve your problem and make you new friends.

5) The camps need wood. Bring as much wood as you can, because it's going to be cold this winter. Water is life, but so is heat when you're in a place with an average temperature of 12 degrees in January. Other highly requested items include both large and small propane space heaters and wood fired tent stoves. From what I saw, food and water are fairly easy to come by.

6). Go. This is an impossible place to describe if you haven't been there, and your presence matters. We felt honored by the hospitality of our Sioux hosts.

About the authors:Josie Caton is a professional guide in Big Sky, Montana with over 15 years of experience in a variety of disciplines ranging from mountaineering to dogsledding.

Nate Podgajny is the director of Youth and Family Ministries for Pilgrim United Congregational Church of Bozeman, Montana, a role which he approaches from a lifelong career as a professional snowsports instructor.

They can be found frolicking together in mountain ranges throughout the northern Rockies.